Logical & analytical reasoning

Answer: (a) I only

Flip each rule into its contrapositive: Z correct → X correct → W incorrect → Y correct. So X correct forces Y correct (I holds), and Z correct also forces Y correct, which makes II wrong.

1. Rule 1: X incorrect → Z incorrect; contrapositive: Z correct → X correct.
2. Rule 3: W correct → X incorrect; contrapositive: X correct → W incorrect.
3. Rule 2: Y incorrect → W correct; contrapositive: W incorrect → Y correct.
4. Chain: Z correct → X correct → W incorrect → Y correct.
5. I: X correct → Y correct — true. II: Z correct forces Y correct, so 'not necessary' is false.

• ✓ I X correct → W incorrect (rule 3) → Y correct (rule 2).
• ✗ II Z correct → X correct (rule 1) → Y correct; so Y is necessarily correct.

Remember · 'If P then Q' equals 'if not Q then not P'. Rewrite each rule this way and chain them.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper II (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) Q is a sister of the husband of S

S is a mother, so S is female and her spouse R is male — P's son. P's other child Q must then be the daughter, making Q the sister of S's husband R.

1. S is the mother of T, so S is female.
2. R is S's spouse, so R is male.
3. Q and R are P's two children, and P has one son and one daughter. R is the son, so Q is the daughter.
4. Q is R's sister, and R is S's husband: Q is a sister of the husband of S.

Remember · In blood relations, fix genders first from words like mother, son, spouse; then place each person on a family tree.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper II (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) P, Q and R

The statements form a chain of sets: red inside blue, blue inside green, green inside yellow. Anything inside a smaller set is inside every larger set, so all three conclusions follow.

1. Red ⊂ Blue ⊂ Green ⊂ Yellow.
2. P: Blue ⊂ Green ⊂ Yellow — follows.
3. Q: Red ⊂ Blue ⊂ Green — follows.
4. R: Red ⊂ … ⊂ Yellow — follows.

• ✓ P Every blue is green and every green is yellow.
• ✓ Q Every red is blue and every blue is green.
• ✓ R Following the whole chain, every red is yellow.

Remember · 'Every A is B, every B is C' gives 'every A is C'; draw nested circles to see it at once.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper II (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 6 km, North

Track each turn: East 4 km, right to South 3 km, left to East 2 km, left to North 3 km. The south and north legs cancel, leaving the person 6 km east of the start, facing North.

1. Start facing East: 4 km East.
2. Turn right → South: 3 km South.
3. Turn left → East: 2 km East.
4. Turn left → North: 3 km North.
5. Net: 4 + 2 = 6 km East; 3 South − 3 North = 0. Distance 6 km, facing North.

Remember · Direction items: write the facing direction after every turn, then net out opposite legs.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper II (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (b) TSPO

Letters shift alternately forward and back by one: Z → A (+1), E → D (−1), R → S (+1), O → N (−1). Applying +1, −1, +1, −1 to S, T, O, P gives T, S, P, O.

1. Z + 1 = A, E − 1 = D, R + 1 = S, O − 1 = N.
2. S + 1 = T, T − 1 = S, O + 1 = P, P − 1 = O.
3. STOP → TSPO.

Remember · Coding items: write the shift for each letter position; alternating patterns are common.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper II (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error

Answer: (d) 3 only

All three statements belong to the same climate debate, so relationship 2 is false — and every option except (d) contains it. S3 does not argue against S1; it only notes that extreme voices within activism give deniers a target. The open question in S2 about how much humans contribute can explain why both alarmism and denial thrive.

• ✗ 1. S3 does not deny that protecting the environment is vital; it describes extreme views within activism that deniers seize on. That is a comment on the debate, not a counter-argument to S1.
• ✗ 2. S3 is about environmental activism and climate change deniers — the same subject as S1 and S2.
• ✓ 3. The lack of scientific consensus on the human contribution (S2) leaves room for alarmist and extremist positions and for deniers to target them (S3).

Remember · When one relationship is clearly false, strike every option containing it first; often a single option survives.

Question and answer: UPSC's provisional GS Paper II (2026, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink · Report an error